Rufus is a sour red ale fermented with two different strains of Brettanomyces yeasts and puree of blackberry and currants. It’s a mix of “Oscar,” the dark sour base beer New Belgium uses for its LaFolie blends, and a white wheat and pale malt base beer brewed by Yazoo in Nashville.

I got a taste of it at the Deli and was pleasantly surprised. I’m not a huge sour beer fan, but I found Rufus to be fairly sour with nice fruit notes on the nose. It was served a bit too cold.

I defer to my friend and FuzzyBrew contributor Nate, who’s much more savvy with sour beers. I asked him for some tasting notes as we sipped on a couple of pints of this Bloody Mary red beer.

“I don’t feel like the enamel is coming off my teeth or the back of my throat is closing up,” he said. He described it as “moderately sour,” but not very malty.

He continued that it smelled like a New Belgium sour, though “not as intense.” He could taste the Brett yeast, “a little barnyard funk on top. … The fruit is there, but I really don’t know that I’d pick it out.”

As it warmed up, Rufus was more funky, more sour and more fruity. My jaw started to tense up, but I stuck with it and was happy to have tried this ambitious collaboration from Yazoo and New Belgium.

For a ton more details on the beer, Brandon from Embrace the Funk, who worked with Yazoo on Rufus, has a great post on his blog about the beer. He describes Rufus as “dry, wild, tart, dark fruit forward with a solid sour backbone and slight caramel malt finish.”

Try it this week, Memphis. You won’t get to taste it again.

Who else has tried it? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Light appetizers, snacks and pints will be served from 6:30 to 7 p.m. Each of the five courses will then be paired with a beer from Yazoo or New Belgium. Some menu items will also be prepared with beers from the breweries.

Tickets are $40 and are still available. For tickets, call (901) 672-7760 or email jc@cbqmemphis.com. The Downtown location of Central BBQ is at 147 E. Butler.

Budweiser of Memphis has released the schedule for the 2013 Memphis Beer Week, and it’s going to be nothing short of amazing.

The inaugural celebration of craft beer goodness is April 21-27, culminating in the 4th annual Memphis Brewfest at Autozone Park.

The week is so full of beer events, you’ll have to pick and choose which ones to attend. The highlights include a New Belgium/Yazoo Brewing collaboration sour beer, a special Ghost River porter, tastings at grocery and liquor stores, beer dinners, firkin nights, pint nights, you name it.

Flying Saucer Downtown – Sour Hour Event, 4 p.m. Tapping the New Belgium/Yazoo Collaboration sour beer. Plus we will have Wayan Sour, New Belgium La Folie, Yazoo Sour Saison. All beers will be paired with local deserts from bakeries and pastry shops.

Flying Saucer Cordova – Sour Hour Event, 6 p.m. Tapping the New Belgium/Yazoo Collaboration sour beer. Plus we will have Wayan Sour, New Belgium La Folie, Yazoo Sour Saison. All beers will be paired with local deserts from bakeries and pastry shops.

Young Avenue Deli – Tapping the New Belgium/Yazoo Brewing Co. collaboration sour beer at 6 p.m. Reps from New Belgium and Yazoo will be in the bar to talk about the collaboration. Then there will be a Stone Brewing Co. event at 7 p.m., with tappings of Cali-Belgie, Old Guardian, Double Arrogant Bastard. Stone reps will be on hand to talk about the beers.

Aldo’s Pizza Pies – Ghost River Noble Prized Porter tapping at 5 p.m. Come be one of the first in the city to try this great beer produced for Memphis Beer Week by Ghost River Brewing.

Sharky’s – Ghost River Noble Prized Porter and fixed-priced menu, all week long. The restaurant will be tapping up this limited beer-week release and pairing it with a menu item for a set price, available all week. Come try it out.

Young Avenue Deli – Tapping Ghost River Noble Prized Porter, 6 p.m. Come out and try this wonderful brew created by Chuck Skypeck for Memphis Beer Week at one of Memphis’s premier craft beer destinations. Also tapping three Stone beers with reps in store for sampling.

Flying Saucer Downtown – Memphis Brewfest live remote, featuring festival organizer Martin Daniel. Come out and say thanks to the man that puts together this wonderful event every year, and have a pint with us. Also, will be tapping an Abita Vanilla Double Dog firkin, with sampling in store, hosted by an Abita Brewing rep.

Local Midtown – New Belgium food and beer pairing. Local is featuring a special chef’s appetizer consisting of Crab Toast with Sweet Thai Chili for $8. You can add a New Belgium Rolle Bolle or Ranger IPA with it for $10. This will run from 5 p.m.-close.

Café Society – Belgian Beer Dinner, presented by Austin Sawyer and David Spafford, 7 p.m. This event will feature a wonderful Belgian beer lineup that includes Hoegarden, Stella Artois, Chimay, Palm and Leffe (not available in the State). All of these fine beers will be paired perfectly with authentic Belgian cuisine.

The Fort Collins craft brewer’s Ranger IPA, Abbey and Trippel, as well as the Lips of Faith series and seasonal Frambozen, are slated to hit the Memphis market next week in bottles and on draft, according to distributor Budweiser of Memphis.

Budweiser of Memphis has recently opened up a new company called West Tennessee Beverage to service liquor stores and bars and restaurants with high-alcohol licenses. Budweiser of Memphis has also recently taken over the craft beer portfolio of Southwestern Distributing as part of the sale of Southwestern’s beer business to the Hand Family Companies.